Salary Cap Fantasy Values: Week 9

Salary Cap Fantasy Values: Week 9

If you are a weekly reader, skip to the values. If you are new, please take a moment to read below.

Weekly salary cap games are a great addition to the NFL season. For those of you who have never tried it, the rules are fairly simple. Every player is assigned a monetary amount based on personal statistics and national hype. The trick is to combine the best lineup of players to score the highest total of the entry pool. This game is legal in the U.S. because it is considered a game of skill.

During the season, you will not see very many quarterback values. The NFL is a quarterback-driven league where quarterbacks are the stars and the most consistent producers. Pick the elite quarterback with the matchup you like the best. For the purposes of “elite” I include Drew Brees, Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers, Matthew Stafford, Matt Ryan, and newly, Robert Griffin III. It is important to note a couple names might be fluid and will provide some value in itself.

Defenses are easy to pick. Find the best defense playing a rookie or backup quarterback. You need turnovers and going against Joe Flacco or Jay Cutler might produce a couple points, but there is no need to leave points on the table. The same goes for kickers. Find a decent team against a tough matchup. Defenses and kickers are not the 2 spots you want to roll the dice on.

All that to say that, for now, the values are best found at running back and wide receiver. It is important to note that most salary cap games score receptions as 0.5 (1/2PPR). Here are some players that could be a great value for salary cap games to start the season:

Running Back

Jonathan Stewart

The fantasy football community has been salivating for the possibility of Stewart becoming a workhorse back for years. For those who have been patient enough on our rosters, this is just the beginning. For those who may not own him, this is a great time to get in before he blows up.

Since being named the “workhorse” before week 8, he attempted the 10th-most rushes to go with a 2.27 yards after contact per carry and a 28.8 elusive rating. Elusive rating is the ability of a running back past the help of blockers. Using these 2 statistics over the last 4 years (2008-2011), Stewart actually beats Adrian Peterson in five of the eight possibilities. Of course Peterson had a much larger workload, but it gives you an idea of Stewart’s ability.

Now back to Week 8. He was on the field for 53 snaps to DeAngelo Williams’ 14. Of those 53 he only blocked on 10 snaps. Williams rushed the ball 11 times, and if you take away his long run of 17 yards, gave him 1.6 yards per carry on the remaining 10. Washington gave up 5.2 yards per carry to Jonathan Dwyer and Chris Rainey. Stewart is better than both. A workhorse at $8,450 on DraftDay and $6,100 on FanDuel is something that doesn’t happen very often, so you can easily take advantage now.